Week Six

Discuss
Complete discussion questions 1-2 (page 160)
1.

Governance and methodology are important for ERP implementations; discuss the merits
of each and how in the Army they were able to implement each.
Governance: Governance is a structure (such as executive councils and steering committees)
that encourages the active participation of leaders in planning and controlling the business
use of IT, to include ERP in the Army case. Also, as stated in the text, governance of any
major change in an organization is critical to the success of the change effort, but
governance of ERP programs is even more critical. The Army addressed this issue by using
five transformation considerations, with sponsorship/leadership and stakeholder alignment
at the top of the list. ERPs require sustained leadership, and Army officers often
transfer/rotate out. This was addressed by having the departing officer thoroughly engage
his/her successor and convey the importance of continued engagement to their successors
during transition.
Methodology: Methodology refers to the systematic approach to solving a business
problem. The Army used blueprinting methodology. Blueprint is a proven, flexible and
scalable process used by ERP teams to successfully implement any large scale ERP. There are
various DoD statutory and regulatory rules, which are not accommodated by ERP software,
but this does not have to be a barrier to using the delivered ERP functionality. Blueprinting is
the methodology of choice because it allows the army to stay within the statutory limitations
by using the comprehensive pilots on a live system of proposed business processes using
delivered ERP functionality.

2.

In addressing ERP implementations the infrastructure needs to be addressed also.

Describe the infrastructure components and what is involved in choosing and installing the
components

Components of infrastructure include the following:

1) Hardware Servers, Clients, and Peripherals
2) Software System Software, Database Management System (DBMS), and Application
Software
3) People Resources End-users, IT specialists, and Project Managers.
In order to properly choose and install these various components the company must first
identify and plan exactly what is needed. Without a clear, well thought out direction and
focus ERP implementations will not go smoothly leading to over-run costs, employee

frustration, and numerous other issues. Also, people with the necessary skill set to install
these components must be involved in order to eliminate and/or minimizing mistakes when
it comes to integration/implementation of the new components.

Infrastructure components necessary for ERP should provide for available, secure, and
reliable operation of the ERP system. Infrastructure components should be selected based
on connectivity, network and system bandwidth, security, user load, and back-up and
recovery capability.
Major infrastructure components will include servers. These can be selected on ERP vendor
input. Servers should be expandable to take care of future capacity and growth demands.
Associated with servers is the election of a properly sized database and web servers to
assume quick and reliable access to data.
Network infrastructure is another component that is required for a successful
implementation. The network should be reliable and secure. Selection can be based on
connectivity and speed for end users of the ERP. If the server and database components are
outsourced it is usually recommended that the server farm company provide connectivity.
Security software and practice are an aspect of infrastructure necessary to prevent
unauthorized access, to prevent virus infestation of desktop PCs and servers. Software
security should be augmented with a good security awareness program with a minimum
training requirement for users.
The final piece of infrastructure should be a disaster recovery and business continuity plan.
This involves business and senior management. They must identify mission critical
transactions and develop a plan to make them available quickly as possible after a disaster.

Do
Complete review questions 3, 5, & 6 (page 160)
3. What are third-party products and why are they needed?
Third-party products consist of software components that provide necessary functionality to the ERP
to make the system operational. This could include things like extra modules to support current ERP
software or new software components that work in conjunction with, but independently from, the
ERP system to ensure operational needs are satisfied.

5. What are the pros and cons of implementing a system without customization?
Being able to implement a system without customization yields the most benefits and is the most
cost effective solution. The pros of using a Vanilla (non-customized) implementation strategy
include lower costs, easier and less time consuming upgrades, and retaining full vendor support.

The con of this strategy is that a company must choose from out of the box processes and
functions and have little control over functionality.

6. Why are there differences between a transactional and reporting database?

ERP systems require databases that can provide the quickest data entry and retrieval. A single
relational database instance is simply too inefficient for long and short term data storage and
retrieval. Therefore, two types of database instances were created: transactional and reporting.
Transactional databases handle individual pieces of info for updating or inquiring, while reporting
databases import data from transactional ones for long term storage and for producing specialized
reports.

Complete case questions 1-4 (page 166)

1. What were the key goals in the Army using an ERP system?

Common view of the rapidly changing operational environment

Eliminate boundaries between One Army and One Enterprise
Synchronize transformation between Institutional and Operational Army
Optimize the Army at the enterprise level
Rapidly affect combat operations by anticipating change and providing decisive and
dominant combat capability where and when required
Transform the Army from end-to-end

2. What were the key implementation considerations that were addressed as part of the
planning process, especially related to using an integrated ERP and transforming the
culture?

Sponsorship/Leadership Successful ERP systems require dedicated and engaged

leadership. The Army has a unique situation where leaders rotate, and an ERP
implementation can span over multiple sponsors.
Stakeholder Alignment The Armys previous structure did not require each area to work
together. There needed to be tradeoffs in each of the areas to have the best overall solution
for the organization, so there needed to be decisions made at a higher level than the area
that are implementing the tradeoffs.
Cost Transformation Management (TM) is a key element to the success of the
implementation. It must be communicated and accepted by the leadership in advance.
Often times when there are cuts to the budget it is the first thing to be cut.
Project Lifecycle TM needs to be part of the project from the beginning and is key to the
overall success of the project.
Culture As with any organization that has a long term history, change will be a challenge.
Leadership must take an active role within the Army to support the change.
Communication The Army has many areas in which communication is key to success, both
internal and external to their organization. A good communication plan must be put into
place.

3. How was the change management process incorporated into the implementation?
The Army used blueprinting, which is a comprehensive set of pilots to test proposed changes
and ensure that the proposed changes will work as advertised. Additionally, the Army evaluated
customization of the software versus changing the process on a regular basis.

4. Discuss the pros and cons to customizing the system?

Pros The software will better meet the needs of the Army and their unique processes and
business processes. Users will not have major changes and therefore adjust to the new
system more readily.
Cons Upgrading to a newer version of the software will be more time consuming and
expensive; customizations are not supported by the vendor and customizing can cause
delays in the project and possibly destabilize the software.

Note: Answers not provided for Exercise questions as there is no single answer.